`Teaching Chinese in Pakistani schools puzzling`

Islamabad: A decision to teach Chinese in schools in a Pakistani province is a little puzzling, said a daily Thursday.

An editorial in the News International said that given the problems that exist within Pakistan`s education system, the recent decision to teach Chinese in Sindh`s secondary schools is a little puzzling.

"At one level the teaching of Chinese (presumably Mandarin) is something that is beginning to preoccupy educationists globally. The Chinese language is in the ascendant, particularly in our part of the world."

"So learning Chinese makes sense..."

However, looking at it from a more practical perspective, the decision is quite "possibly perverse", it said.

China is Pakistan`s all-weather friend.

The editorial said "Chinese is among the more difficult languages to learn".

"Fluency is almost never attained if Chinese is learned `at home`. It requires deep immersion for a minimum of 18 months, and the kind of dedication that might be expected of a top athlete."

"Pakistan has a number of pressing educational problems. Our teachers need training in modern classroom methodologies... Teach Chinese as an option, but let us not lose sight of larger and far more important goals," it added.